1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a slit valve for interfacing with a transfer chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to efficiently perform consecutive processes upon one or more substrates, multiple processing chambers may be coupled together. Efficiency is particularly important in semiconductor, flat panel display, photovoltaic, and solar panel manufacturing because it is common to perform numerous consecutive processes upon the substrates. To transfer substrates from one processing chamber to another processing chamber, a transfer chamber may be coupled with one or more processing chambers. The transfer chamber may remove one or more substrates from a processing chamber and transfer the substrate to one or more other processing chambers, another transfer chamber, or even a load lock chamber. A processing chamber may be directly coupled to another processing chamber or a load lock chamber. Additionally, a load lock chamber may be coupled to another load lock chamber.
At each interface between chambers, a slit valve may be present. The slit valve, when opened, permits one or more substrates to be transferred between adjacent chambers. When the slit valve is closed, substrates may not be transferred between the chambers. The slit valve thus may seal the chambers from adjacent chambers so that each chamber may have its own environment isolated from an adjacent chamber.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a slit valve to provide an effective seal between chambers.